Titan Flyby (T-80): A Southern Swing High Over Titan

This global digital map of Saturn's moon Titan was created using images taken by the Cassini spacecraft's imaging science subsystem (ISS). The map was released Oct. 26, 2011, and the most recent data in it is from April 2011.+ Image Details + More Titan Information

T-80: A Southern Swing High Over Titan

On this high-altitude encounter of Titan, the imaging science subsystem (ISS) performed high-resolution observations around closest-approach along the anti-Saturnian and trailing hemispheres at mid- to high southern latitudes.

This is one of ISS' so-called "10-pointer" flybys, i.e. one of the two scientifically most significant Titan fly-bys for ISS during the Solstice mission. As the lead instrument on the inbound approach to Titan, the composite infrared spectrometer (CIRS) instrument viewed Titan at various distances and spectral resolutions to make maps of atmospheric and surface temperature. After closest approach, RADAR did radiometry of the sub-Saturn hemisphere. Outbound, the visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) performed stellar occultations of the stars CW Leo and R Leo, which will constrain the composition and the spectral properties of Titan's atmosphere. During the flyby, the radio and plasma wave science (RPWS) measured thermal plasmas in Titan's ionosphere and surrounding environment, searched for lightning in Titan's atmosphere, and investigated the interaction of Titan with Saturn's magnetosphere.